yet that captivity, in which we are at present, has lasted more than twenty-five times seventy. What can be the crime which our ancestors committed, and of which to the present we have not repented, that the hand of the Lord has lain, and still lies, so heavily upon us? Whatever it is, it must be some act or deed of a most atrocious character, which they perpetrated before our dispersion: an act or deed in the approval of which we have unchangingly persisted, and the guilt of which we have obstinately refused to acknowledge.

"I have read our national records, and I find but one act to which all our nation have in every age given their unanimous, and persevering, and really obstinate adhesion. It is the crucifixion of Jesus, the Son of God. That he was the Messiah I no longer doubt. The New Testament agrees with the Old. In the 26th chapter of St. Matthew I find the fulfillment of the 53d of Isaiah. O, what glories it has unfolded to my view! I thank my God and Father for the palpable influence and assistance of his Holy Spirit, while engaged in its delightful reading. I am not now afraid to write; I am no longer intimidated. I never feared the curse of the rabbis; and, therefore, I have endeavoured to calculate the time of the prophecies which relate to the coming of the Messiah. These are, I think, in almost every case, expired; in all perhaps. But O, my nation, with what heart-rending agony of soul must I view this act! The innocent Jesus-terrible thought! -that he who is the Saviour of his people, should have been by our nation crucified, and afterwards sneered at as the Talui;* that the Divine Redeemer of the

The "Crucified One."

world, the promised Messiah, should be blasphemed in the miserable, insane Toldoth Jeshu. Weep, weep! ye Jews, for your iniquities; let your wails rise to heaven, long, loud, and deep. O, what will ye feel-who shall describe your poignant grief when the Spirit of God convinces you of this guilt-they.* The very land in which it was committed weeps, looks mournful, and is desolate.

"My heart is very full. I have read the lovely Gospel, but I am a poor, ignorant, benighted creature, and cannot understand it as I wish. O, that I were in England! that I might obtain more knowledge from the servants of Christ. I am now tossed in a whirlwind of thought, all-engrossing, yet so agitated and indefinite that I can select no language to portray it. It is an agony of soul. I wish to be a Christian. O Lord! calm my troubled spirit. Do of thy loving-kindness guide me to thy simple truth. Let me rest and be at peace beneath the canopy of thy love. Teach me thy law of liberty, as thou in thy word hast described; and having taught me thy will, assist me to follow thee, to give up my own, whatever shall happen to my body. Amen.

"Now, my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, my hope is in thee, my prayer is unto thee; in the multitude of thy mercy hear me. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink, and out of these deep waters, that they may not overflow me."

Almost immediately upon their arrival at Jerusalem, Leila was visited with a severe and wasting illness. "I am just recovering from the most severe illness I ever The great transgression.

had. Throughout my indisposition I received much divine support, yet I have not that indwelling peace I desire to have, and which it is clearly my privilege to possess. I want the evidence that I am what God would have me be. Although I earnestly pray for this evidence, all seems dark and mysterious. Lord, arise and scatter my darkness for the Redeemer's sake. O, let me, unworthy, miserable, sinful me, obtain thy promised salvation! Amen.

"It is a solemn scene! From my window I see the Mount of Olives, the deep ravine that forms the bed of the brook Kedron, and the valley of Jehoshaphat where my fathers lie buried. Beneath me lies most of the Holy City. With a slight turn of my head, I see the Mount Moriah, and the enclosure where once stood the Temple of the Lord. Again shifting my view, I see the few thin-leaved olives which are supposed to mark the garden of Gethsemane-the scene of the agony of the divine Redeemer! A solemn calmness hovers everywhere around me. My spirit harmonizes with the

time and scene."

The illness of Leila resolved her father that they would proceed no further in their pilgrimage; although his original intention was to visit the Dead Sea, and various parts of Arabia Petræa. As soon, therefore, as she was sufficiently recovered to be removed, they left Jerusalem for Jaffa, its port: there they embarked for Alexandria.

"Alexandria," writes Leila, "presents a scene of magnificent ruin and desolation. Everywhere the eye is met by half-ruined houses, whose symmetry is not for solitude; and heaps of rubbish, and fragments of tem

ples, palaces, obelisks, capitals, and columns, are scattered around. The gardens of Ptolemy, and most of the buildings and groves which environed Alexandria, are no more. Cleopatra's palace has quite disappeared; it stood upon the walls which face the fort. East of it were the two obelisks called Cleopatra's needles. One of them still remains. It is composed of one piece of Thebaic stone, and is nearly seventy feet in height; its surface covered with deeply cut hieroglyphics. A few of the porphyry pillars of Cæsar's palace may still be seen, and the beautiful front is entire. Near the ancient gate of Rosetta, five marble columns stand solitary; they belonged to the colonnade of the Gymnasium, and are all of it which escaped the barbaric destruction of the Turks.

"On the sea coast, there is an artificial reservoir, called the Bath of Cleopatra. Ruins in connection with it indicate that it was formerly ornamented. In its sides are two beautiful saloons, furnished with benches cut from the rock. A winding canal conveys water from the sea to these saloons, and renders it transparent as crystal.

"In modern Alexandria, there are no public buildings which are worthy of particular notice. The city consists of narrow, dirty, unpaved, and awkward streets. Like the other towns upon the coast, the houses are all flat-roofed, with inconveniently constructed wooden lattices, for the admission of light and air. There are several mosques, a few Greek churches, and a convent."

After an inconsiderable stay at Alexandria, they left for England (via France) in a government steam-ship. "Day and night," writes Leila, "we steamed on

without mercy. One morning we were at breakfast, using every means (materially assisted by a slice of tough beef) to prolong this congenial break in the dreary monotony of a sea-day, when an officer entered the cabin, and informed the captian that land was seen a-head. We hastily despatched the remnants of our meal, and proceeded to the deck; thence we saw the land, hovering like a gray, sombre cloud upon the verge of the horizon. This was announced to us as the island of Malta.

"At about noon, we entered the noble harbour of Valetta, the capital of the island. It is a pretty town, and strongly fortified. The scenery around is of the grandest character.

"At eight o'clock in the evening, our steamer was again under weigh. The wind, which for a day and a half had been boisterous, now blew with the violence of a storm. It was no matter; our sailing was imperious, and could not be delayed. The night was a dismal one; the heavens and the ocean were all on uproar. Heavy masses of clouds drifted over the dark and tumultuous waters, and the gale shrieked in wild chorus to the dashing billows. We cleared the harbour, and entered the Mediterranean in a tempest, the wind blowing full a-head, and directly upon the land. The whole power of the engine was exerted, and yet it could not be perceived that the steamer made any headway. I, among several other passengers, had staggered to the quarterdeck, and was stoutly clinging to the rails, not far from the men at the helm. The menacing headland, covered with surf, seemed close upon us, and ever threatened from the same point of view. Not an inch did the steamer